I have been invited to serve on the Program Committee for MUM 2010. This is “a leading annual international conference, which provides a forum for presenting the latest research results on mobile and ubiquitous multimedia. The conference brings together experts from both academia and industry for a fruitful exchange of ideas and discussion on future challenges”.

The 9^th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia (MUM 2010) will be in Limassol, Cyprus, 1^st – 3^rd December, 2010. It is organized by Cyprus University of Technology and Frederick University, Cyprus. (website http://www.mum2010.org/)

I’ve also been invited to serve on the Program Committee for Automotive UI 2010 which will be held in Pittsburgh, 11-12 November 2010.

“In-car electronic devices are becoming ubiquitous. Drivers and passengers use these devices because they perceive them as providing a valuable service. Some of these devices, such as collision warning systems, assist drivers in performing the primary task in a vehicle which is driving. Others provide information on myriad subjects or entertain the driver and passengers. A problem that arises from the proliferation of in-car devices is that they may distract drivers from the primary task of driving, with possibly disastrous results. Thus, one of the three major goals of the Automotive UI 2010 conference is to explore ways in which in-car user interfaces can be designed so as to avoid distracting the driver while still providing a valuable service. This is a challenging task, especially given that the design of in-car devices, which was historically the responsibility of car manufacturers and OEMs, is now a shared responsibility between a large and ever-changing group of parties. This group includes the car manufacturers and OEMs, but also the designers of devices that are brought in to the car, such as portable personal navigation devices and MP3 players.” (website http://www.auto-ui.org/10/)

I’ve been invited to serve on the program committee for the 1st International Symposium on Ambient Intelligence to be held in Guimarães, Portugal on the 16th-18th June, 2010 (isami2010.di.uminho.pt)

[ Website ] [ Call for papers ]

“Ambient Intelligence (AmI) is a recent paradigm emerging from Artificial Intelligence (AI), where computers are used as proactive tools assisting people in their day-to-day, making everyone’s life more comfortable. The interaction with computers is changing quickly, as we no longer need to do it in ways not natural for us, since a main concern of AmI consists in to make possible the interaction with computational systems using friendly interfaces, allowing input through natural language or simple gestures.

This inclusion of technology in our day-to-day objects and environments should be as invisible as possible, because of the computational power and communication techno-logies embedding in most of the devices we use nowadays. Human interaction with computing power embedded systems should happen without noticing it. The only awareness people should have arises from AmI: more safety, comfort and well-being, emerging in a natural and inherent way.

As defined by the IST Advisory Group (ISTAG), AmI has born thanks to three new key technologies: Ubiquitous Computing, Ubiquitous Communication and Intelligent User Interfaces, which are starting to change the way we see computers. ISAmI is the International Symposium on Ambient Intelligence, aiming to bring together researchers from various disciplines that constitute the scientific field of Ambient Intelligence to present and discuss the latest results, new ideas, projects and lessons.